Washington Nationals

Jeremy Hellickson has made seven starts since missing virtually all of June with injury. He was having a splendid start to his season before the DL stint and it’s been not quite the same since.

His ERA was 2.28 prior and is a more substantial 3.56 now. The one blow-up start that contributed to the big jump came against the Marlins when he gave up eight earned runs in four innings.

Other than that, Hellickson hasn’t given up more than three runs in any of the other six starts since his return and, in fact, the entire season. He’s done a good job to limit damage, even if he hasn’t always gone deep into games.

Before this game starts, Washington faces what feels like a game it has to win on Thursday, trying to avoid losing three out of four to the Braves. The Nats very well may already be out of it, but they can’t fall any further behind.

Chicago Cubs

The Cubs lost 9–0 on Wednesday to a team with as many wins as the Orioles. Chicago did take the first two games from Kansas City and won the series but a beatdown by the co-worst team in the league isn’t a nice way to head into a day off/travel day.

Kyle Hendricks feels a long way off from 2016 when he led the Majors in ERA. It’s not that he’s been bad since, but it’s clear that that season was the outlier.

He was still spectacular last season, posting an ERA+ just short of 150. But he’s been little better than average in a full workload in 2018. It’s hard to credit the drop-off to anything in particular in his peripheral numbers.

MLB Baseball Betting Trends:

Over is 6-2 in WAS last 8 Fri. games.

Under is 53-23-6 in WAS last 82 road games.

WAS are 7-16 in their last 23 road games.

Over is 6-2 in CHC last 8 Fri. games.

CHC are 16-7 in their last 23 home games.

CHC are 9-4 in their last 13 Fri. games.

Washington Nationals vs. Chicago Cubs MLB Prediction: Cubbies.

Time to bury the Nationals. In fact, I’m late to do so.

4* Free MLB Betting Pick: Cubs Runline

MLB Free Score Prediction: Washington 2 – Chicago 8

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